When Sister Fidelis, newly appointed secretary to a Provincial, was first told to prepare a report of a meeting and make fifteen copies of it and make sure there are no mistakes, she individually proofread all fifteen copies even though she had proofread the original! She was afterwards blamed by the Provincial for being slow at her work and felt very upset. (This is a case of perfectionism arising from excessive fear of making a mistake or being found to be inefficient and the excessive care taken resulting in the opposite.)
Johnson was a young man who was very conscious of his appearance. He had sported a beard. On one occasion, getting ready to go to a party, he kept on trimming his beard to “get it just right!” as he told a friend later. He kept on correcting the little mistakes he made while trimming until there was very little left to trim. The beard was now looking quite awful and he had to shave it off completely! (A case of compulsive need to get things just right.)
We may also have come across someone who has to wash his or her hands several times, even when washing once is more than enough. Or, one who checks several times if the door is locked, sometimes returning to check after having gone a distance? Or, one who feels the need to rearrange books and other articles on their desk several times a day to make sure they are always in the right place and in the right order.
Fr Jose Parappully SDB
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